Goodnight Gorilla

by Peggy Rathmann

If your youngsters resist bedtime, they will surely get a kick out of this resourceful gorilla hero. “Goodnight, Gorilla,” says a zookeeper as he closes the furry fellow’s cage for the night. But Gorilla is not ready to call it a day. Instead, he lifts the keys from the unsuspecting zookeeper and surreptitiously frees all of his fellow animals. Soon a parade of elephant, lion, giraffe, and mouse follows the innocent zookeeper home. Not until his wife says, “Goodnight,” and hears seven “goodnight” replies are the creatures discovered. The minimal words allow children to narrate the story in their own way, and plenty of details (a Babar doll on the floor of the elephant’s cage; a mouse towing a banana by a thread) will keep even older siblings entertained.